Jazzing up Jacoby
The Umpqua Singers, led by Jason Heald of UCC’s music department, opened for Thursday night’s Jazz in Jacoby concert with the song“The Band Played On.” The day long festival featured school musical groups from across the state performing for each other culminating in an evening concert with headliners Cami Thompson and Kirby Shaw.
Faculty-formed jazz quartet Moment’s Notice provided backup for the night’s performance of Cami Thompson’s vocal stylings. Thompson filled Jacoby Auditorium with songs such as “Midnight Sun,” “I Can’t Get Started” and “In the Cool, Cool, Cool.” Thompson’s long and varied jazz career spans 35 years, and she has opened for blues, soul and jazz major Lou Rawls; the multi-Grammy winning Manhattan Transfer; and lead Heart singer and movie composer Nancy Wilson. Thompson, a Bay Area Belter, has also performed at several international venues and on stage in a number of musicals.
The non-competitive vocal jazz festival started with school performances. Seven schools participated, representing various middle schools, high schools and colleges, and ranged in size from about 11 members to some jazz groups as large as 30 members. Some groups were strictly vocal while others added instruments to create a rhythm section. The festival also included clinics taught by musical professionals specifically geared toward Jazz ensembles. The day was capped off with a concert in Jacoby Auditorium, featuring talents from UCC and headlined by the day’s clinicians. The event is a tradition within the UCC music department, going back for the last twelve years. For this year’s festival, schools visited from as far away as Medford and Albany.
Kirby Shaw, who taught clinics alongside Thompson, also took the stage singing songs such as “Route 66” as well as soloing on trumpet. Shaw is considered one of the U.S.’s foremost experts in musical education and is highly regarded both for his musical compositions and arrangements.
Some of the talent showcased in the Feb. 10 Jazz event is going global in the near future. The Roseburg Concert Chorale will perform in London in March while UCC’s Umpqua Singers is heading north to tour south central Alaska in early May.
Other local talents are gearing up for spring performances. The Vintage Singers will have their spring concert in April. The Umpqua Chamber Orchestra and Umpqua Chamber Choir have a joint concert on March 6 to perform their rendition of “Requiem” by Luigi Cherubini. Also the Oregon Musical Theater Festival will run from July 28 to August 8 and will feature the musicals; “Annie”, “Pump Boys and Dinettes” and “They’re Playing Our Song”. For more information of concerts and where to get tickets visit: http://tickets.umpqua.edu/ or call 541-440-7700.
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